On Friday, Hershey announced that it will build a $250-million confectionary facility in Malaysia, reinforcing its presence in Asia to address increasing demand for its products. The plant to be located in the southern state of Johor represents its single-largest investment in Asia since the company entered the region some 18 years ago. Hershey anticipates that the plant will be finished early in 2015. The company already has nine other such facilities in the United States and in Canada, Mexico, India, Brazil, and China.

The electric carmaker Tesla Motors might name the South Korean battery producer Samsung SDI Co Ltd as an additional vendor, while the former endeavors to add more models and expand, however, at least one inside source described the deal as being far from complete. Both Tesla and Samsung SDI, a division of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, confirmed Friday that the two firms are in discussions regarding the South Korean company supplying battery tech to Tesla, who builds of the top-selling domestic electric car, the premium Model S sedan at the price of $70,000.

At 12:44 p.m. on Friday, the retailer had dropped by 6.2 percent to $7.89, which would be its lowest closing price since Mar. 9, 1982. The latest firestorm came when it said that it need not raise capital, and then diluted its shareholders by selling stock. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs raised questions concerning Penney’s debt, and credit-default swaps seem to confirm the investment bank’s view. The shares closed at $7.86 Friday, down 6.54 percent on the day.

Beam is the most recent Scotch whisky producer to spend money to add to its capacity as the category continues to grow worldwide. The company, which owns the Teacher’s, Laphroaig and Ardmore Scotch brands, said late Thursday that it has opened three new warehouses in Scotland, in which to age its whiskies. The warehouses, set in Westthorn close to Glasgow, will help Beam grow its holding capacity there by nearly 20 percent.